2006 Mission Boulevard Fayetteville, AR 72703; Phone: (479) 442-2565

Rachel McGathy

Secondary Vice Principal and Guidance Counselor

Rachel McGathy serves as the FCS Guidance Counselor. Her experience in a wide range of areas, such as Enrollment Services and Financial Affairs at the university level, has brought the knowledge needed to help FCS secondary students succeed after graduation.

Welcome Letter

Thank you for your interest in Fayetteville Christian School!  I want you to know that it’s truly a special place.

FCS was founded by Mission Boulevard Baptist Church after our pastor, Brian Disney, was virtually begged to do so by the parents of the children in the church.  They desperately wanted to have a place to educate their children well, but away from the influences of the world.  The ministry began with those children, and the teachers were those parents.  Within three years, the school was expanded to its current scope of K3 through 12th grade.

Over the years, some of our original parent-teacher volunteers have retired, replaced with new volunteers – some, like me, from MBBC, and others from like-minded families and churches in the area – all with the same desire to provide an education in a Godly, loving environment.  Our staff have been serving the Lord in this ministry for over forty years.  We truly love, pray for, and dedicate ourselves to the children under our care.

My burden when I joined the FCS staff in 2006 was to assist young adults in transitioning from high school to successful adult life.  That was five years before the birth of my own son.  Now, he is the recipient of the love and nurturing you will find at FCS, and I am confident that the choice to place him here is the right one for our family.

If you are wondering if FCS might be a good fit for your secondary child, please feel free to contact me or our Admissions Director by email, phone, or in person (click here to access our website’s contact form).  We would love to meet you and discuss how your educational needs can be met at Fayetteville Christian School.

Regards,

Rachel McGathy

Secondary Guidance Counselor

Biography

I am grateful to serve the Lord Jesus Christ at Mission Boulevard Baptist Church.  I was born into a poverty stricken family, but I loved to learn.  The librarian and the guidance counselor took me under their wings, and I graduated from high school as the valedictorian and a National Merit Finalist.  I planned to attend Yale and work at a research institute in Seattle.  God had better plans.

He sent a couple from MBBC to my home town to be youth directors at the church I attended.  Because of their ministry, I was saved and discipled, and I placed my life into the hands of the Lord.  In my heart, there was no other place for me to go than MBBC, so I switched my educational plans to the University of Arkansas.  MBBC is also the place I met Ron McGathy, whom I married in 1994.  We received the miraculous gift of our son, RJ, in 2011.

After graduating from the University with a Bachelor’s degree in Accounting in 1993, and accumulating hours in the Masters of Information Technology program, I started my career.  Through several twists and turns, I ended up back at the University in 1998.  There, I served on financial aid and scholarship committees and developing relationships in Admissions, the Registrar’s Office, Student Accounts, and Financial Aid, gaining knowledge of each area and garnering a wealth of professional development in student finance before transferring to the Financial Affairs division.  Concurrently, I served on the FCS School Board, then joined the staff as guidance counselor in 2006, shamelessly nagging our students into some form of continuing education.  I want to make a difference in young adult lives!

My husband and I have welcomed seven “exchange” students into our home, and I serve as a backup for our International Student Advisor.  I am zealously committed to teaching Life Management, a class which helps students become successful adults, both outwardly and inwardly.  (I know I am partially successful, because several of my former students have returned to tell me so!)  I have also taught a variety of math classes, which I love (when I first entered the University, I had a double major of mathematics and computer science).

I had the extreme privilege to teach Senior Girls Bible for several years.  Even though someone else took up that specific calling, any of my classes can, at any time, be converted to a Bible class by a student’s question or comment.  The most important thing that has ever happened to me is when I was saved – born again into the family of God.  Therefore, the most important thing I can do with my life is to tell people the good news of salvation.  The second most important influence in my life has been education. It delivered me from a bleak existence and gave me the opportunity to experience a better life.  So, the second most important thing I can do with my life is to help others overcome their own obstacles and achieve their own success. 

Education

  • BS, Accounting, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR

Experience

  • 21+ years of experience in the Financial Affairs Division at the University of Arkansas
  • 21+ years of service at Fayetteville Christian School
  • 2004 - Present: Guidance Counselor and Teacher at Fayetteville Christian School
  • 1997-2004: FCS School Board Member
  • Hours accumulated towards a Master's Degree in Information Systems, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, AR